Theology of Nuance; Struggling with God and Man and Overcoming

Mt 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Is he eternally lost?

Did he die in his sins?

Many folks will tell me that this fellow is lost.
Many folks will say that Jesus has condemned all rich people.
But, I differ fundamentally with the faulty hermeneutics used to put this stake through the souls of so many people.
Look again, at the the passage about the Rich young ruler. Verse 22 says that he went away sorrowful or “sad” because he had great wealth.

Is he sad because he’s rich?
This is not the typical response to having great wealth. Is it?

‘John Doe wins the multi-million dollar lotto, so he goes away sad because he has excessive wealth.’
You just don’t hear this.
My take on this passage is that, the rich man recognizes his deep Spiritual need. In-fact this exchange is the same in all of the synoptic gospel accounts. The man asks Jesus what “he” personally, must do to have eternal life. So, the fellow has a recognition of his need.

Consider this in the context of Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The young ruler meets this criterion by simply asking the question of Jesus.

Look further, Mt 5:4. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” The young ruler meets this criterion by going away “sad”. He was not sad because he was rich, but rather, because he knew that there was “one thing” that was coming between himself and God.

Jesus has good news for people who are able to recognize such a sad personal state of affairs, “They will be comforted.”

Look at Mt 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” This young man appears to be getting a lot of good news (gospel) from Christ. The rich man clearly, has a deep hunger and thirst for righteousness, because after Jesus tells him a list of things, which he had followed “religiously” the young man didn’t celebrate and hoop-it-up, but instead he recognized he was still lacking something.

This issue could be expanded further by talking about the impossibility of any rich man’s salvation…on his own merits, versus any rich man’s salvation on God’s merits. But, I am hoping you are getting the idea by now, that this young man met Jesus’ stated criteria for being blessed in Mt 5.

Okay, if you still follow me on this. And if you too have felt “sad” that you have not achieved God’s level of excellence, then I am also hoping that you might recognize that your very deep and earnest desire for perfection is the exact same thing to Christ from Mt 5. If you didn’t care, then there would be a problem. But, that’s not the case. The only thing lacking for you, is the answer to yourself of some important questions:

1. Just How Powerful is this Jesus?
2. Is he really able to forgive anything?
3. Can he heal me, personally, for any & all faults?
4. Can He create, in me, a holy and sanctified soul? Despite my failings.

God bless,
DSM

To: Bigdaddy and Pilgrim
Thank you for responding to the exercise, of which I am including the questions at the bottom of this post as well.
Also, I will give some background for the questions, as is appropriate.

I should say that I was intentionally provocative with the title and the questions for this post.
The provocation was more to engage thought than to be critical.
Also, I know that the questions are open-ended and vague, thus resulting in some “ricochet” directional variations. That’s okay too.
However, the underlying point, that I had hoped to open to critical thinking, involves self-sacrifice for the benefit of others, without any “carnal” benefit to oneself.

So, the issue of using “common-sense” to tie your shoes is valid, but what happens if we change the dynamic a little bit.

Maybe, we could instead tie a stranger’s shoes, so that they will not trip and fall.
The Lord did take just such an opportunity to give his disciples, (us), an example of uncommon-sense, when He washed the feet of the disciples.
We must not forget this example. It applies to everything we do, as disciples of His.
We must read John 13:1-17 and answer for ourselves what it means when the Lord told the disciples, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”
This statement is in the context of foot washing. But, does it only apply to foot washing, or does it even, ultimately, apply to foot washing?
• 15, I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.
• 16, How true it is that a servant is not greater than the master. Nor are messengers more important than the one who sends them.
• 17, You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing.

To my understanding of verse sixteen, Jesus is appears to be making a manifest claim to be “master” and “sender of the messengers.” This follows the context and the relationship of teacher to student.
However, in our, now post crucifixion, perspective, we have a more complete context of what Jesus actually intended by this example and His teaching to the disciples. Because, in verse one, John tells us “Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love.”
This refers to Jesus’ death on the cross, not only Christ’s foot washing event.
It would be almost sardonic to say that Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice was washing a bunch of dirty feet.

Therefore, the foot washing that happens, is not separate from the death on the cross. The foot washing ceremony is intended to, graphically, highlight the fact that Jesus’ disciples will be expected to respond to their fellow man, in exactly the same selfless manner as Jesus Christ.
Hence, Jesus’ reminds the disciples of the appropriate hierarchy, i.e. Master is superior to servant and Message Sender is superior to message carrier.
In other words, Jesus tells us;
• ‘I am Master and I am the Message Sender.’
• ‘Do you see what I do for my slaves and couriers?’
• ‘Do you see that I wash their feet?’
• ‘Do you see that I lay down my life for them?’
• ‘Therefore Peter, you should not think that you are too important or too superior, and thus hand off the menial tasks of foot washing and life sacrifice’
• ‘God’s servants are exact images of God, in every detail and every drop of self-sacrificed blood.’

Bigdaddy, in your answer to “Q2: Is there anything that Jesus did, which He has specifically excluded from His disciples? yes–He alone could die for our sins”, I understand the point that you make and I concede that it was true.
Yet, when we receive Jesus’ Holy Spirit, we are no longer ourselves alone. We become Christian, i.e. we become Christ to the world.
• We are holy, as Jesus is holy.
• We become “participants of the divine nature”, according to 2Peter 1:4.
• We have the opportunity to glorify the Holy Father in the same way that Jesus Christ brought glory the Father.
• We may show uncommon faith in the Father’s ability to carry us through self-sacrifice for our fellow man.
• We may show hope in resurrection to a new life.
• We may deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him.

You see, I don’t see myself as carnal any longer.
I look at the carnal man on the cross everyday. The carnal man who worries about getting ahead in a “dog eat dog world” is put back on the cross everyday. This leaves me sinless. This puts me in a confident position, so confident in-fact, that I may sacrifice my own life to save the life of him, who may be my enemy, just like Jesus did for me (Romans 5:10).
I am exactly like Jesus, by God’s inexplicable grace.

My point is that while Jesus could only offer Himself for me, prior to my cleansing, I now am recreated in His image, thus giving me the privilege of offering myself for others and completing the exhortation from John 13:17, which is, according to our Lord, the “path of blessing.”

God bless,
DSM
p.s. My answers, to the previously posed questions, follow below, so please continue to read, it is important to understand my reasons for the questions, which I’ve stated above, as well as my answers to the questions, which will follow. dsm

1. Do you believe that Jesus is the “example” for all humankind? Yes, I suspect that most Christians will agree that Jesus is the perfect example for humanity. But, this also creates difficulties with our spiritual/carnal filter. For example: What actions, from within Jesus’ life example, may we exclude from ourselves or from teaching other disciples.
2. If you say “yes”; is there anything that Jesus did, which He has specifically excluded from His disciples? Pilgrim, I believe that you have hit the target, squarely, in the “X ring”. Your answer also addresses the point that I make above to Bigdaddy’s answer for this question. Because, while Jesus tells Peter that he may not come to the cross at that time, He forewarns Simon that a day will come for him to do the same thing, i.e. he will be called on to sacrifice himself for the church. Most are familiar with the historical legend of Peter’s own crucifixion.
3. Who is a “disciple” of Jesus? I agree with both answers. Interestingly, to Pilgrim’s answer, we see, in Acts 19:1-7, that Luke calls disciples, 12 men who had not be baptized into Christ. However, the lesson of discipleship continues, because the 12 men are baptized in the the name of the Lord Jesus upon hearing about, what was an heretofore missing component of their belief.
4. Do you think of yourself as a disciple? The answer to this question is almost reflexive for all who call themselves “Christian.” But, it is my opinion that discipleship holds requisite conditions that are not present in many who feel as if, they are indeed “disciples.” (Again I say LOUDLY, “THIS IS MY OPINION”) The conditions that I see for discipleship are, in the following specified chronological order; 1st) A Seeker of God, 2nd) An Acceptor of Truth, 3rd) A Follower/student of Jesus, 4th) An Employer of knowledge & example. The 12 men of Acts 19:1-7 as well as Apollos from Acts 18:24-28, meet these criteria for discipleship. They were seekers of God, they accepted truth, they followed the way of Jesus, and finally they employed their acquired knowledge, by acting on their faith, via baptism into the name of Jesus Christ.
5. Does the Father expect disciples of Jesus to use “common sense”? With this question I am dealing with personal demons. As you’ve read above, this goes to the issue of “carnal-sense” or simply doing what is expedient without regard to Jesus’ self-sacrifice and the most visible defining characteristic of His disciples, as stated by the Lord Himself in John 13:35 “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” Jesus is not limiting this love to fellow “Christians”. Remember He has already given the Sermon on the Mount, where He tells us, in Matthew 5:43ff “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.”
6. Did Jesus use common sense in any part of His incarnation, ministry, and sacrifice? Without going too much further, you now understand what my thinking is concerning “common-sense”. I use the term, because I have heard this phrase many times, when people desire cover for their giving into fear and rage, and in contravention of Jesus’ obvious teachings, both in His words and in His deeds. I won’t confess here what my greatest fears are, but suffice it to say that I am praying daily for courage and strength to say “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” My fears have motivated me to hide my gifts. I have buried them and have not invested them. I have honored the one who encourages me to fear and hate, instead of the One who promises me, that He will keep that which I’ve committed to Him, but only that I show courage and love.
7. Can you cite the examples of Jesus, using “good judgment”? Jesus didn’t turn the stone to bread, He didn’t throw Himself down in a test of the Father protection and He did not worship the “prince of the earth & air”, all of which would have been expedient by worldly carnal-judgment.
8. Was His, giving up the throne of heaven and being born as a helpless baby to an unmarried mother, “good judgment”? Pilgrim, Paul states that Jesus did have this decision to take and therefore it was His prerogative to decline. Look at Philippians 2:5-11 “5) Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6) Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7) He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. 9) Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, 10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11) and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Pilgrim and Bigdaddy, you are correct about Mary and Joseph, but the stigma of Mary being yet only betrothed, when she became pregnant was, by carnal standards, “unwise”.
9. Did Jesus use good judgment when he selected His band of apostles? Carnal judgment says that He should have picked big warrior class men, who had political connections and military training and experience.
10. Was God the Father using good judgment, when He placed His “only begotten Son” in Bethlehem under a narcissistic homicidal maniac, such as King Herod the Great?
11. Did the Lord use anything even close to “good common sense”, when He refused to answer the Jewish High priest and the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate? Good judgement (carnal) would get Him out of jail and silence the crowd, with no fuss and no mess.
12. In what way, can Jesus be said to be our “example”, if we, for our own carnal will & reasoning, seek to exclude all meaningful representations of the Father’s & Son’s love, mercy, and compassion, as being unique to Jesus’ ministry, and therefore, should not to be followed by His disciples? Men and women of God make compromises daily for why they should use “common sense” and not stop to help a stranded motorist. But, the example of Jesus says to stop and help. Godless men beat the Lord, yet He did not strike back. While Godly men and women seek preemptive strikes, to protect hearth and home. I hope to spur thought about when God’s example is a “bad example.”
13. I keep looking for the Lord to stand up and take matters into His hands and utterly crush the wickedness of humankind. But…, if He were to do the thing that I envision…, would I be swept away with all the other wickedness of humankind?
14. I wonder if there is any example in Jesus life, that the Father hopes that we will follow?
15. And I wonder if that example, might just be Jesus “in toto“?

Most of the posts, that I publish here, are essays about what I believe and specific reasons for why I believe, as well as how those things relate to my theology of nuance. I have been asked “What, Who and Why” I believe. To these questions I have made several attempts, but obviously, I am not quite through. I will continue latter, if the Lord permits me.

However, now, I would like to ask some questions of you, if you have the answers please post your answers for me.

1. Do you believe that Jesus is the “example” for all humankind?
2. If you say “yes”; is there anything that Jesus did, which He has specifically excluded from His disciples?
3. Who is a “disciple” of Jesus?
4. Do you think of yourself as a disciple?
5. Does the Father expect disciples of Jesus to use “common sense”?
6. Did Jesus use common sense in any part of His incarnation, ministry, and sacrifice?
7. Can you cite the examples of Jesus, using “good judgment”?
8. Was His, giving up the throne of heaven and being born as a helpless baby to an unmarried mother, “good judgment”?
9. Did Jesus use good judgment when he selected His band of apostles?
10. Was God the Father using good judgment, when He placed His “only begotten Son” in Bethlehem under a narcissistic homicidal maniac, such as King Herod the Great?
11. Did the Lord use anything even close to “good common sense”, when He refused to answer the Jewish High priest and the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate?
12. In what way, can Jesus be said to be our “example”, if we, for our own carnal will & reasoning, seek to exclude all meaningful representations of the Father’s & Son’s love, mercy, and compassion, as being unique to Jesus’ ministry, and therefore, should not to be followed by His disciples?
13. I keep looking for the Lord to stand up and take matters into His hands and utterly crush the wickedness of humankind. But…, if He were to do the thing that I envision…, would I be swept away with all the other wickedness of humankind?
14. I wonder if there is any example in Jesus life, that the Father hopes that we will follow?
15. And I wonder if that example, might just be Jesus “in toto”?

God Bless,
DSM

Oh…, to the picture for this post, did Stephen use any common sense, when Saul and the other devoutly religious men stoned him to death?

(The painting is by Jacopo Bassano ca. 1550AD, entitled “The Purification of the Temple.”)

This article, that is hyperlinked under this paragraph, is about the unification of Christian disciples and all believers becoming one in Jesus Christ.

It was brought to my attention by my best friend. He published it on his Blog post here.

Nonetheless, I had a very good discussion at work today, with a fellow believer, who has been visiting this blog.
Our discussion reminded me of this published article.

Look at this paragraph.

• Barna also identifies a growing movement of what he calls “Christian Revolutionaries” -– believers who demonstrate much higher commitment to group worship, personal spiritual growth, Bible study and biblical beliefs, community ministry, evangelism and financial investment in Christian work.
• Even more than self-professed “born-again” or “evangelical” believers, “Revolutionaries” have a clear sense of meaning and purpose; consider their relationship with God the top priority in their life; strive to love Him with all their hearts; believe they will spend eternity with Him only because they have confessed their sins and accepted Christ as personal Savior; and have made a personal commitment to Christ as Lord.

My best friend, and fellow blogger who showed me this article, had been somewhat cynical, that the Church was not following its mission.

But the above story shows that many within the “body of Christ” are recognizing the purpose for the “body of Christ” [the body of Christ, is defined by the Holy Spirit, speaking through the apostle Paul at 1Cor. 12:27 "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."]

Even if I were to say, that the “big dogs” of Christendom are promoting these fractures (and I know that many are), this would not justify me, willingly ‘giving-up’ the the body of Christ to the power of Satan, who may be working through the “big dogs.”

In-fact, this makes it imperative that I, not give-up the bride of Christ, and abandon her to the evil-doers.

I must remain in the body, to work for God and serve His Son, for the sake of Jesus’ holy bride, i.e. the Church.

I love Jesus Christ, therefore I will not abandon His wife, to the will of Satan.

Think about this.

• If my buddy calls me “friend”, and yet, when he sees my wife being attacked by evil men and women, he says to himself… “I am getting out of here. I am not going to help her.”, is he, really, my friend?
• If he is truly my friend, he will ‘throw-down’ with the ‘bad guys’, and go to the grave, before leaving my wife to the thugs.

This is the same scenario with the Church.

We need to get into the fight and save the bride of Christ.

We may not be able to do it alone, but we are not alone.

We have God’s Holy Spirit empowering us. Right?

This is what I believe in my heart. And, through this blog, I am trying to encourage people to just allow God’s Spirit to work through them, to save souls.

• Folks can’t be saved, if they are never brought into the body of Christ.
• Folks can’t be saved, if the bride of Christ is given over to the men and women who are serving the world’s goals and not the Father’s goals.

Anyway, that is why we must all be together in worship to Him.

Remember Christ’s final prayer (John 17), He prayed for all believers to be unified as one, just as the Father and He are one.

You and I must be a part of the Holy Father’s answer to the prayer of His Son Jesus Christ, because we are integrated into it by Jesus very sacrifice on the cross.

If we say ‘No’ to the Church, then we have said ‘No’ to the power of the Father, to even answer His Son’s prayer.

Why would Jesus waste time with the prayer in John 17, if the Father was powerless to answer Him, in the affirmative?

I am, just as the article above describes me, a “Christian Revolutionary“.

But, praise God, so is my Lord Jesus Christ.

And if you are wondering about the painting by Jacopo Bassano at the top of this post, Jesus is a Revolutionary, and that is why He drove the money changers from God’s temple.

God bless,
DSM

(Matt, heads-up this is another reason for my belief that:

1. There is a creator,
2. The bible is inspired by Him,
3. Jesus is the Creator,
4. And the Son of God the Father.
5. And His Holy Spirit is the power that carries His Church, who are His saints, His chosen people, His beautiful bride, His royal priesthood, His holy nation, His kingdom of heaven, His holy city, His new Jerusalem, His home among His people.)
   

I desire thoughtful dialogue concerning the issues of which I write.
My preference is that people always agree with me, except with one small caveat, i.e. when I am in error.

If people agree with me when I am wrong, misguided or otherwise in error, then I will still crash on the theological rocks or become grounded in a philosophical sand bar.
I will have only one consolation in such an event, that consolation being an entire boat-load of friends and family slamming into my stern.

That’s not a pleasant thought; the idea of my dearest friends, family, and I being marooned on an isolated island called hell or hades, for all eternity.

There is no glory for my Lord or me if I am teaching error about God and His inspired words.

I am human. I like being thought intelligent, wise, perceptive etc. But, I am not so foolish, as to prefer being thought of as intelligent, wise, and perceptive, while I am wrong, and this, only to maintain my pride.

The web log, to me, allows for an enduring power of humility, which might otherwise be overcome by a brash impetuousness of pride.

I tend to respond reflexively, and foolishly, in oral discussions and then regret that I have perhaps negated a philosophy that I maintain in my mind, simply to hold my ground on a faulty principle.

Therefore, when people see something that I may have neglected or may have been incorrect about, in an issue, I hope that they will present it. Actually, integrity demands that it be offered, especially if one believes that the matter concerns Truth and Life.
Obviously, the stuff that I say on a blog doesn’t carry so much weight, but it could possibly in my teaching others.

I believe that God is not paradoxical, but rather, we who are limited by the carnal, see only a small segment of reality.

Further, I believe that the minuscule visible portion of reality is used to deceive us, in our understanding.

Thus, the adversary provides us, an appearance of God being a “Paradox”, because we don’t have eyes to see.

• 2Kings 6:17, Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened his servant’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

I believe that God’s apparent paradoxes are integral to His nature, and that they reveal Truth about who He is and who we (disciples of Jesus) are, e.g. the weak will show God’s power, the humble will be honored, the proud will be brought low, the meek shall inherit the earth, etc.

I believe that God uses subtlety or “nuance” like a hammer on a drum, in order to make us take notice of the carnal filter that Satan holds in front of our eyes, which masks God’s infinitely loving and humble nature.

• (EXAMPLE: 1Kings 19:11-13 “11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.)
• God speaks to us, just as He does to Elijah, through “gentle whispers” of subtle nuance. Don’t get all worked up or distracted over such things as earthquakes, fires, cyclones, guns, & bombs. Remember how Elijah responded. Elijah was not shaken by the melodrama of the world. He didn’t rage at the wind when the cyclone broke over the mountains. He didn’t collapse when the earth shook him to his knees. He didn’t whimper as the fire scorched his face. Elijah knew God, as we too should know Him, so that when the gentle whisper comes to us, even as we are thinking that all is lost and the world has literally crashed down around our very feet, yet we hear our name spoken as if from a supple breeze, we should know that our Creator is here. Our great & glorious God, of the demure and gentle whisper will speak your name. He’s not like anything the world has to offer.
• God does not come in a big flashy, pimped out ride, that is what the world does.
• God does not shout & yell to get our attention, that’s the carnal way.
• When God wants to get our attention, He will employ that which is demure. The subtle theology of nuance from God seems like a paradox in a world where ‘The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease’. Because idom and cliché simply don’t apply to a True & Living God.

Please follow the theme.

The old self/carnal/worldly interpretation of “Shock and Awe” comes from laser-guided cruise missiles raining down on buildings and vehicles and IEDs carefully placed in a crowded business district, to maximize dramatic displays of death and destruction.

• But, God’s vision of “Shock and Awe” comes from His Son stepping down from the throne of heaven.
• And being born as a humble baby (single mom conceived Him out-of-wedlock) Very demure.
• Training at the hands of His Master Carpenter Step-dad (This is the equivalent of “Sensei”. You should be thinking Joseph as Sun Tsu.) Very demure.
• Courageously, He begins blessing infants, Very demure.
• Raising a vast army of;

1. Valiant Fishermen (Very demure.)
2. Daring Tax collectors (Very demure.)
3. Epic Zealots (Very demure.)
4. And Countless (no fewer than twelve, but not exceeding thirty) Mighty Warriors of Zion…Who stand abreast, each of them carrying the holy armaments of heaven; cut leafy palm branches, which they thrust out and drop in the street. (Very demure.)

• Gallantly He enters the gates of Jerusalem astride His donkey colt (actually the colt belonged to a neighbor and was just borrowed for the event. And, He didn’t storm the gates. He…, well…, He wept when He reached the gates.) Very demure.
• After this, the Creator of heaven and earth began to conclude His “Shock and Awe” campaign; naked, beaten, bloody, bruised and unceremoniously executed on a Roman cross between two convicted criminals. (Very demure.)
• As God, the Host of heaven, concludes His glorious time on earth, He, while alone, is quitely raised from death (Very demure), while resting in repose in another man’s tomb (Very demure), in the wee-hours of a workday morning (Very demure), with His initial wittnesses being ladies (Very demure), whom at first see Him as a groundskeeper (Very demure), and then after some time, He finally, while standing with the disciples on a remote hill outside of the city (Very demure), slowly floats back to heaven until He is received and covered by a cloud, (Very demure.)

Do you see…?

This is a story that no one could imagine. Not in a million generations, could this very demure story have been conceived in the carnal mind of man. It’s just too demure!

God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, LORD of Lords, KING of Kings, looks at the world’s “Shock and Awe” in utter revulsion and heartrending disdain.

Therefore, we must not miss the point of the cross.

Shock and Awe, for sure, but not worldly terror and dread…, no, No, NO,

Shock and Awe to Jesus Christ our Lord and God means ASTOUNDINGLY demure and BEWILDERINGLY humble, because that is what love truly is.

God bless,

DSM

Hey Matt! Here is the next installment on my belief.
This addresses Item C “Why do I believe that the Creator is the inspiration behind the scriptures?” (I will go back, at a later time, to Item B, Why I believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the actively creative power of the Creator.)

I do not call the Bible the “Word of God.” I may be unique among believers, concerning the use of this scriptural term.
But, as I have studied this, it appears to me that the Holy Spirit has revealed that the “Word” is Jesus. This will come out more in my answer to Item B.
I have struggled in the order of presentation of Items B & C, because they are tied together.
There are so many uses of the term “word”, that we may become confused about that, which we are discussing, i.e. the Lord’s words, God’s words, the Word of the Lord, the Word of Life, etc.
There are differences in the use of the singular rather than the plural. The words of God are not the same as the Word of God.
I hope this is making sense. Because I am attempting to hold to the semantics that I believe the Holy Spirit has used in the “words” of His prophets, apostles and disciples.

So, just as a beginning point I will outline briefly what I believe about “the Word”, and about the “words” of God.

• I believe that “the Word of God” is Jesus. John 1:1ff
• I believe that Jesus is “God’s Word”. 1John 2:14
• I believe that Jesus is “the Word of the Lord.” Genesis 15:1, 1Samuel 3:1-21 Look closely at verse 21.
• I believe that the “Word of Life” is, again, Jesus. 1John 1:1
• I believe that the words of God are found in the bible.
• I believe also, however, that the words of the devil are found in the bible. Matthew 4:3 is one such example of Satan’s words in the bible.
• I believe that the words of people are found in the bible. Exodus 3:11 (An interesting sidebar to this point, is that people either speak the words of the devil or the words of God. In the verse cited above, Moses speaks the words of Satan to Yahweh. Look at Matthew 16:22-23, to see how Jesus dealt with the words of Satan spoken by Peter. Human words may ultimately only serve two ends, they may serve God or they may serve self, where self is always the goal of the devil.)

This is the semantic difference, which I see in the scriptural use of the term “Word”. If someone has a different opinion about my distinctions, I am interested in reading them. However, until I am persuaded otherwise, this is how I will proceed in the subsequent response to belief in God’s Word and belief in the bible as inspired, respectively.

I believe that the recording and preservation of the bible is an action of inspiration by God’s Holy Spirit.
My conviction has been slowly developed, even while I was attempting to cast off my faith, as written in the first part of this series on my belief.

I have found that the bible is more than just allegorical, in its written text.
I hear many “believers” who are quite willing to consign the bible to the bookshelf, because of its antiquity.
They do this, by initially diminishing it as a collection of allegories. Thus, if it is only allegorical, then it holds no value.
In these cases, it becomes only a collection of symbols.
But, what can it symbolize? If it is not real at its root, then symbols of the illusory are of no value, for anything practical, except entertainment, if entertainment might be said to be “practical”.

Nevertheless, even if we are to accept the bible as only “a nice bit of antiquated literature,” we are still left with a very “good book”, worthy of our study.
The bible is chock full of ancient near eastern examples of early art, poetry, song, prose, proverbs, technical documentation, etc.

Surely, these many early expressions of the humanities are worthy of some respect from the world. But, oddly enough, this is not the case.
Thusly, our world seems intent on suppressing the bible, and this speaks volumes to me.

This is a simple curiosity that draws my attention.
It is, to me, the equivalent of saying don’t think about pink elephants.

Are you thinking about a fuchsia pachyderm?

These examples draw our attention. Humans are designed to seek answers to mysteries. And the bible is an enigma among human literature.

Our world doesn’t want it, ‘because its only an old book of out-of-touch allegories’.

However, our world digs deep to find an old moth eaten scrap of parchment that contains only 100 legible words from a Roman era copy of Homer’s “Iliad.”

Does this make sense to you?

Well, there is the enigma.

If you diminish the bible, by telling me that it is an ancient collection of fiction, or literary forms and allegorical chronicles, but that we should not trouble our students with this historical collection, I will be very intrigued about the apparent paradox.

To me, this treatment of the scriptures, by our world, speaks to the bible’s veracity.
This is one reason for my belief in the bible.
(To Be Continued)

God Bless,

DSM

1. Grandpa was tough. He had a lot of experiences that showed how tough he was. He was electrocuted in 1954 while working at the rock crusher plant, he was nearly dragged over a cliff, by a runaway truck at the same plant, and he was caught-up by his denim work shirt in the conveyor system. But, he was also gentle, evidenced by how he loved kids and how they loved him. He was always excited to hold the little ones and he would smile from ear to ear while they were with him. Compare this to our Lord Mt 19:13-14 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 Jesus said, “Let the little children to come me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
2. Grandpa was merciful to me when I deserved punishment. Once, about thirty or so years ago, I had my BB gun and took aim at Grandpa’s rain gauge. I didn’t figure I had a chance at hitting it, since I was a fair distance from it and I had only one pump. However, I did hit it and broke it. Nobody saw me do it, so I put the gun away and after awhile we loaded things up and waved goodbye to Grandma & Grandpa until our next trip down from the city. After a couple of months we came back down and I had almost forgotten about the rain gauge incident. But, Grandpa hadn’t. He got the grandkids together in the dining room and brought out the busted gauge and simply asked who was responsible. I quickly owned up to it, not knowing what Grandpa’s reaction would be. As I recall, he told us about responsibility and he told me that he was disappointed with me. But, he didn’t yell. He simply made the point that when I make a bad decision I should address it immediately and not run away from it. Grandpa was like the Lord in showing mercy to me. The lesson of mercy extends beyond that Saturday Afternoon of thirty years ago. Mt. 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy.”
3. Grandpa did not often tell us how much he loved us, but we knew he loved us by what he did to show his love. Once he and Grandma took a summer vacation with my family. It was Mom, Dad, Jeff & myself in our car and Grandma & Grandpa in their old blue International Harvester pickup. We were somewhere West of Dalhart, TX and had been on the road the better part of the day, when Dad saw a lone Elm tree with a picnic table on the horizon. Dad quickly took the decision to stop and have a picnic there on the high plains of the Texas panhandle. Both vehicles rolled to a stop and Dad, Jeff and I unloaded from the Buick and ran back to Grandpa’s truck just as the wind shifted. Dad had stopped us next to the biggest pig yard in west Texas. The smell almost overwhelmed Grandpa, who was still behind the wheel of the International Harvester. He never criticized Dad or offered any opinions about Dad’s choice of picnic areas. He simply said, “James, I’m not that hungry. Let’s keep driving.” Grandpa showed his love to us. Compared to our Lord 1Jn 4:9-10 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

   For those of us who don’t yet believe in the LORD and for those of us who do believe, we should consider these words from Jesus in Matthew 19:25-26 & 20:1-16
   25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

   Jesus then told this parable about those who follow him.
   1 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.
   3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5 At noon and again around three o’clock he did the same thing. 6 At five o’clock that evening he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’
   7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’
   “The owner of the estate told them, ‘Then go on out and join the others in my vineyard.’
   8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. 10 When those hired earlier came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’
   13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take it and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be angry because I am kind?’
   16 “And so it is, that many who are first now will be last then; and those who are last now will be first then.”
   Some come early in the day, some come in the middle of the day, and some come at the very end of the day, but all receive the very generous reward from their Master.

   Grandpa did indeed confess Jesus about six months ago, while talking with Dad.

   Mt. 12:1-13 God Almighty follows the Spirit of the law not the letter of the law. He is a Lord of mercy. Mt. 12:7 “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”

   To conclude this memorial to Homer Martin, we can know that
   1) He was tough & yet gentle like Jesus
   2) He was just, yet merciful like Jesus
   3) He showed his love by his actions, like Jesus.
   4) And finally he confessed his faith that Jesus is Lord.

This assumes, in my opinion, that “lines” exist, where none necessarily may be.
This very point shows up through the Scriptures, both OT and NT.
My blog is an attempt to reflect this and possibly to give some semblance of understanding to these nuances within God’s nature.
Hence, the title “Theology of Nuance.”

Example:
David is a man after God’s very heart.
But, David is not worthy of preparing the Temple for Him, because the blood of violence stains him.
Or:
Jehovah is a man of war: Jehovah is his name. Exodus 15:3
Yet, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
Or:
“Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

Tension, for sure…, but not only with grace & obedience, because we find nuance, subtlety, and even harmony between disparate philosophical concepts everywhere our God turns.

God bless,
DSM